UN World Food Programme

Crouched in a corner of her living room, with her daughter in her arms and with her son's head on her lap, Najla knew it was time to leave. Her family's once quiet street had turned into a war zone. Tanks and fear replaced familiar sounds and the serenity of home. That night, four years ago, they gathered themselves and set out to find refuge in Turkey. Since the night she fled with her husband and children, Najla hasn’t seen her mother and sisters who are still living in their hometown in Idleb, Syria. She has now started a new chapter of her life in Boynuyogun refugee camp, located on Turkey’s southern border with Syria.

“In my wildest dreams, I never would have imagined that I’d raise my children outside of Syria, but we find ways to cope. I call my family back home from time to time,” Najla explains while holding her stomach. She is pregnant with her third child who will be born a refugee in Turkey. “We don’t have the luxury to chat and share stories like we used to, but I’m still glad there’s a way to hear my mother’s voice, to talk to her about my pregnancy.”

To minimise the burden of life away from home, Najla and her husband Nidal have found ways to keep busy. Nidal works in a grocery store where thousands of other Syrian refugees buy food using electronic vouchers provided by the World Food Programme in partnership with the Turkish Red Crescent. Najla has used the time to practice her cooking.

“We usually serve Kabsa on very special occasions in Syria, but I make it regularly because my children love it,” she says. “As long as I have my health and my family, every day is a special occasion for me.”

Welcome to the World Food Programme's (WFP) new recipe series. Explore the culinary treasures and cooking abilities of refugees who benefit from WFP's cash and vouchers, an initiative that allows individuals to buy the food they need to cook their traditional dishes

List of ingradients

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A4 US Letter version

1) Place the whole chicken in a deep pot. Top it with the cloves, laurel leaves, one whole onion, black pepper, red pepper and cinnamon.

Chicken in a pot
(Photo:Justasdelish.com)

2) Add water and boil the chicken. When fully cooked, tear the chicken into little pieces and save the broth.

A pot of broth and chicken in a plate

3) Now for the sauce - chop onion, red pepper and green pepper into little pieces and mix them with olive oil in a separate pot for about five minutes then add half a kilo of grated tomatoes and let it simmer for another five minutes.

Onion being chopped

4) Add half of the chicken pieces to the sauce in the stew pot. Once mixed in with the sauce, add a dash of special kabsa spice along with the chicken broth.

Chicken added to a stew pot

Ingradients being mixed

5) Add one kilo of rinsed rice to the mix and leave it on the stove until the rice is fully cooked.

A bowl of rinsed rice added to a pot

6) Then add the rest of the chicken and dinner is ready!

A Syrian family enjoying their meal

Cash And Vouchers

A WFP cash and vouchers card
Photo: WFP/Jane Howard

WFP delivers hundreds of thousands of tons of food each year, but, increasingly, we give hungry people cash or vouchers to buy food for themselves. Learn more about WFP's cash and vouchers programmes.

E-Food

Syrian refugees shopping for food in a market
Photo: WFP/Eyad Al Baba

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WFP uses innovative ways to deliver food assistance, such as scratch cards or “e-vouchers” sent to mobile phones by text message.

WFP and the Turkish Red Crescent launched the e-food card programme in 2012 in Turkey. The initiative enables Syrian refugees to cook their own meals using fresh ingredients they can buy in the local markets. Read more about WFP's E-Food card programme (PDF, 1.48 MB).

FamilyChef: Kabsa

By Berna Cetin — 4 March 2015 — Photo © WFP/Berna Cetin

Download the recipe!

1) Place the whole chicken in a deep pot. Top it with the cloves, laurel leaves, one whole onion, black pepper, red pepper and cinnamon.

2) Add water and boil the chicken. When fully cooked, tear the chicken into little pieces and save the broth.

3) Now for the sauce - chop onion, red pepper and green pepper into little pieces and mix them with olive oil in a separate pot for about five minutes then add half a kilo of grated tomatoes and let it simmer for another five minutes.

4) Add half of the chicken pieces to the sauce in the stew pot. Once mixed in with the sauce, add a dash of special kabsa spice along with the chicken broth.

5) Add one kilo of rinsed rice to the mix and leave it on the stove until the rice is fully cooked.

6) Then add the rest of the chicken and dinner is ready!

Cash And Vouchers

E-Food

FamilyChef: Kabsa

By Berna Cetin — 4 March 2015 — Photo © WFP/Berna Cetin

Download the recipe!

1) Place the whole chicken in a deep pot. Top it with the cloves, laurel leaves, one whole onion, black pepper, red pepper and cinnamon.

2) Add water and boil the chicken. When fully cooked, tear the chicken into little pieces and save the broth.

3) Now for the sauce - chop onion, red pepper and green pepper into little pieces and mix them with olive oil in a separate pot for about five minutes then add half a kilo of grated tomatoes and let it simmer for another five minutes.

4) Add half of the chicken pieces to the sauce in the stew pot. Once mixed in with the sauce, add a dash of special kabsa spice along with the chicken broth.

5) Add one kilo of rinsed rice to the mix and leave it on the stove until the rice is fully cooked.

6) Then add the rest of the chicken and dinner is ready!

Cash And Vouchers

E-Food

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Author: Berna Cetin